WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Baldur’s Gate 3.In the role-playing genre, players are expected to create their own characters, butBaldur’s Gate 3is slightly different since it has the option for gamers to play through the perspective ofBaldur’s Gate 3’scompanions. Playing as a companion provides a fresh look at these characters and brings new insight that wouldn’t necessarily be seen in a standard playthrough.
The companions that have the option to be chosen as the protagonist are known as origin characters, and the popular vampire Astarion is among them. Astarion is one of the fan-favorite characters inBaldur’s Gate 3due to a popular romance and many iconic scenes. However, despite an Astarion origin playthrough losing all these iconic moments, the case to playBaldur’s Gate 3as Astarion is still strong.
Why Players Should Play Baldur’s Gate 3 From Astarion’s Perspective
The Changes In The Playthrough
With every origin playthrough, there will be some changes and differences to a standard playthrough, fromBaldur’s Gate 3’sSceleritas Felencouraging the Dark Urge to slaughter innocent people in a Dark Urge playthrough, to Tara staying in camp with Gale in a Gale playthrough. In Astarion’s origin playthrough, there are many changes and additions:
A Different Perspective
PlayingBaldur’s Gate 3through Astarion’s eyes gives a different perspective and reveals more insight into his past. His personal quest also has new content and is called ‘Call of the Blood’ instead of‘The Pale Elf’. When Astarion meets his siblings, there are new dialogue options, such as allowing Astarion to walk into the sun to reveal he’s immune, as well as having to pass a skill check to grab Petras. If players fail to grab Petras, he will call Astarion the runt of the litter, and the whole scene shows that Petras holds a lot of hostility toward Astarion, as well as showing that Astarion was the scapegoat of Cazador.
When Astarion encounters Sebastian, it is revealed that he doesn’t remember his name at first, and in an Astarion playthrough, players must pass an Intelligence check of 18 for him to remember. It also seems that Astarion may not actually care for Sebastian as much as it first seemed, because this time around, players must pass a Deception check of 20 to tell Sebastian that he cared about him.
Another interesting encounter is withthe Drow twinsin Sharess’ Caress. In this encounter, there is a new dialogue option that tells the twins that Astarion used to be in their position, but in a non-consensual way, in which they will express their sympathy for him before telling him that they wouldn’t want to be in any other profession.
Many players have been put off playingBaldur’s Gate 3as Astarion because they won’t be able to hear his voice or get to see his incredible personality and character growth. It could be argued that missing out on these things is a good price to pay tolearn more about Astarionand to get a better insight into his character that can only be attained by playing the game through his eyes.
